“It wasn’t just Aurerich, then. Something similar happened in School Village as well…”
The girls were currently standing inside the Sanctuary of the Oracle, which was located in a corner of Galdorssia’s church complex. The stained glass window, the shape of a moon floating in the night sky, looked down on them from above.
An item that could best be described as a spear rested atop the altar at the back of the sanctuary.
Homura and the others were relating the events that had occurred in Aurerich and School Village to the Hierarch of the Eye of the Moon, Lady Falmeyr.
“This is a very unfortunate development.”
Although Falmeyr’s own eyes were covered by a silver mask, the look of worry on her face was plainly visible.
“With so many incidents, and the Dark Lord’s name coming up so often, it may be time to assume that a successor to the Dark Lord has, in fact, arisen. Indeed, we should base our actions going forward on that assumption.”
While everyone would have liked to turn a blind eye to such a possibility, reality kept slapping them in the face. Falmeyr sighed, obviously troubled. She quickly regained her composure, however, and turned to face Homura and the others once more.
“In any case, it sounds as if an entire settlement may have been transformed into soldiers for the Dark Lord… I’m relieved you were able to make it back alive. I was actually the one who recommended you five girls for that mission. I had no idea something like this was going to happen.”
Falmeyr sounded apologetic.
“Well, you should be sorry! I’m starting to wonder if Our Benevolent Creator up there has also been moonlighting as some sort of god of misfortune,” Psycho quipped.
Homura might not like the way Psycho put it, but internally, she was also dissatisfied with the number of things that had been going wrong.
“Psycho, you shouldn’t say that. I’m sure little Eirene is doing her best.”
“Speaking of which, where is little Eirene?”
“Don’t worry, I’m holding her back. If I were to call her down at this point, I’m sure she would have some pretty stern words for you,” Falmeyr said, with a soft laugh.
Homura smiled uncomfortably. Should Falmeyr really be keeping the supreme deity in a time-out like that?
“Well, we’ve been doing plenty out there ourselves. Isn’t it about time we received a reward for our valiant deeds?” Psycho insisted.
But Falmeyr had another card up her sleeve.
“Speaking of valiant deeds, didn’t you have something else to report? About, say, the identity of a certain someone who used pieces of a monstrous beast to give Captain Torreque a new arm?”
Falmeyr was feigning ignorance, but she obviously already knew who the culprit was.
“Whaaaaat? Who could have done such a thing…?”
“Yes, who could it have been? You know, exceptional talent is a factor when deciding promotions…”
Psycho’s ears perked up. Maybe she had an idea of who might have done it after all.
“I actually mixed in some of Tsutsumi’s tissue! Her advanced regenerative powers made the transplant much easier! Without that, there was a high chance Torreque’s body would have rejected the arm!”
“Well, it certainly didn’t take you long to roll over! You can’t go around committing blasphemies just because you’re short on fighters, Psycho. Captain Torreque is going to face a lot of challenges in the future because of what you did, and if word gets out that you’re going around doing monster surgery, you will only hurt yourself in the end.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Psycho said, turning away and slouching grumpily.
“Try not to get carried away. I’d rather not have to get the assassination squads involved if I don’t have to…”
“Yeah, ye…es, ma’am!”
Psycho suddenly stood up straighter, belatedly realizing what Falmeyr was implying. Homura and Jin stood up a little taller as well, realizing they might get whacked, too, if they stepped too far out of line.
“Well, that concludes our report, so we’ll be, uh, taking our leave, Her Ladyship permitting!” Psycho said, awkwardly, as she turned on her heel and began to beat a hasty retreat.
“Psycho, dear, since you’re here already, don’t forget your duties at the church,” Falmeyr said, grinning sweetly.
“…Yeah, yeah.”
It didn’t exactly sound like a request.
After parting ways with Homura and the others, Psycho headed toward the church hospice, where healing magic was used to treat the injured. The majority of those in need of healing were soldiers who had been injured during training.
“Goddess of the moon, I call upon your mercy, heal this child of her grievous wounds…”
Psycho had changed into her holy vestments and was currently healing the line of soldiers sitting upon the row of hospice tables. Most of their injuries were just cuts and did not require particularly difficult treatment.
“You really are good at this, Psycho. I wish you would quit the Phalanx of Blades and just join the church full-time. We’d feel a lot safer protecting Galdorssia knowing that you were here when we got back,” said the last soldier, once she was finished healing him.
Psycho’s reputation as a healer was strong. She always knew just what to do. But she wasn’t comfortable being on the receiving end of such praise.
“Well, if you’re that keen on protecting the city, how about I give you an extra set of arms while I’m at it? That way you could fight twice as well.”
“Ha-ha-ha, I wouldn’t mind being stronger, but I’d rather not become a monster!”
The soldier assumed Psycho was joking. Little did he know.
“Well, if you ever find yourself warming up to the idea, you know who to call.”
“With the way things have been lately, we could probably use all the help we could get, even if it did come from monsters. It’s scary to think what this world is coming to…”
The soldier hugged himself a bit melodramatically. This was a normal response. The people who were gung ho about saving the world, like Ares and his friends, were the abnormal ones.
“Fighting with monsters on your side, huh? That world might be coming sooner than you think.”
At least, Psycho hoped so. But she wasn’t about to admit she would be the one to see to it.
“The way you’re talking, it almost sounds like you’re going to be the one to see to it.”
Whoops. Apparently Psycho wasn’t being as subtle as she thought!
“I know you like to make weird jokes, Psycho, but you should be more careful about the things you say. I actually heard some crazy talk the other day about some magic user going around doing stuff with corpses or something,” the soldier said, his previous smile now gone. “Anyway…thanks for healing me, I guess!”
The soldier made a beeline for the exit, suddenly embarrassed by his own gravitas. After he was gone, Psycho muttered in her now-quiet corner of the hospice, her voice dying out in the emptiness.
“Weird jokes? Like you know anything about me…”
Only the faint scent of blood remained. Psycho stood listlessly in place. It was the kind of silence that made it easy to lose yourself in thought.
That silence, however, was soon shattered by an interloper who stumbled into the room, grinning obliviously.
“Hey, look who’s back! I thought you were out there getting into trouble again, Psycho.”
“Here she comes. The poison fog dispenser.”
The woman who entered was dressed in clerical vestments like Psycho, but she wore them all askew and was even holding a cigarette between her lips.
“That’s me! Puff puff!”
The woman blew smoke into Psycho’s face.
“Dammit, Ada!” Psycho waved the smoke away. “We’ve already got a poison gas dispenser on our team, and she’s a hell of a lot cuter than you are!”
“Poison? Like a black-magic user? The Phalanx of Blades is crazy.”
The scraggly-looking woman known as Ada was what you might call a wayward priest. A bad girl of the church. Someone highly skilled in priestly abilities, but whose behavior was a far cry from what the church approved of. Not that Psycho was one to talk.
Most priests remained constantly aware of the fact that they were acting in the deity’s name and displayed the utmost devotion even in their everyday lives. Ada only worried about healing the injured, however. Otherwise, she lived her life however she pleased.
Apparently, Ada had once been the model of priestly diligence, but something had happened to sour her faith. Either way, at the moment, she had a tempting offer for Psycho.
“It looks like Reverend Sourpuss isn’t here right now. How about we go play hooky?”